Melanie Graham and The Olympians   Discontinued
by Squishing Bananas
Summary: Melanie Graham is just another daughter of one of a minor goddess, until a daughter of Zeus is kidnapped and the Big Three threaten to wage war against the lesser gods unless she is returned, Melanie and her friends may be the only ones that can find he.
1. Chapter 1: Rosy Fingered Dawn

**A/N If you read this story before, you may have noticed that I made drastic changes to this chapter. After much character building, plotting, outlining and thinking I've decided that I should introduce the main characters of this story first, and then the ones we all know and love can play their parts. I'm really sorry if you don't like the changes, but I do. And don't worry, Percy and Annabeth will appear briefly in the next chapter and again in the third (In character this time). I hope that you enjoy this chapter, but if not feel free to mention how I can improve future chapters in your review. I'll try to have the next chapter out at the end of next weekend. I hope you grow to like Melanie and Jason as much as I have!**

**Chapter One: Rosy Fingered Dawn**

"I'm sorry Charlie, it's just not working out." I try and make my voice sweet, my eyes wide as if it hurts me as much as it hurts him to split.

"But Mel, please? What did I do?" Charlie's jaw works furiously like he's chewing a bit of tough gum, his hair pushed out of his eyes with a baseball cap facing backwards.

"It's not you, it's me." I clasp my hands behind my back, pinching the inside of my wrist to encourage tears to come to my eyes.

He sighs, turning away. "Mel, I just don't get you sometimes."

"I'm really sorry Charlie." I apologize again, "I just think we should go our separate ways." Charlie doesn't say anything, so I turn, making my way down the street.

Night fell a few hours ago and the street is dark except from the glow of the street lamps. Hands in pockets, I navigate the familiar New York streets easily, shivering in the darkness. Usually Charlie walks me home after our dates, but tonight I get to walk home alone. I quicken my pace, it's only a couple of blocks home, a path I walk all the time, but darkness gives things a more sinister light. A part of me whispers that if I would only open up my cell phone and call, Dad would be glad to pick me up but I shove the thought away. How hard is it to walk home? It's only a few blocks, and besides, I'm thirteen and today was the final Friday of school before summer break. I should have a social life, or at least the guts to walk home.

Pausing, I note that the street light has gone out in the road ahead, casting the buildings and sidewalks in deep shadow. I'm tempted to detour down the next street over, but shove on anyways. 13 is far too old to be afraid of the dark. I quicken to a jog, hurrying through the darkened street. Ahead an angry shout rings out in a language that I don't understand, but sounds strangely familiar. A growl responds to the shout, breaking into a run, as I round the corner I bite back a screech.

A horse rears in the alley, screaming its fury, over the form of a teenage boy, looking impossibly small in comparison. Unsure of quite what I was seeing, I press myself to the wall, wide eyes taking in the uncertain scene. The horse rears, screaming a challenge and striking out with bronze hooves. Peeling back its lips, it reveals curling fangs and a bloody muzzle. The boy jerks a sword out of his belt with startling smoothness, brandishing it before him. The horse, unperturbed by the sword, kicks out at the boy, who rolls away with surprising quickness. Lunging again, the horse ducks around another parry of the sword to bite at the boy, catching his sleeve between his teeth. Shouting, the boy hacks at the horse's underbelly with his sword, twisting away with a muttered oath.

Blindly gripping something on the ground to my left, I stand, heart pounding in my throat. Reeling back, I step forward, without thinking, throwing the rock I grasp at the horses flank. The animal spins, screaming, to rest its gaze on me. The boy takes advantage of its distraction to lunge in with his sword, passing the blade in behind the horse's foreleg, with a squeal the animal falls to dust, merging with the shadows as if it was never there leaving behind a single curved fang.

I shrink back against the wall, surprise shuddering through me. "What was that?"

The boy doesn't answer, continues staring at me intently with narrowed blue eyes. "What did you see?" He asks, after a moment's pause.

"A killer horse!" My voice sounds more indignant than I meant it to; does he think I'm blind?

He whistles low under his breath, "Wow, what are the odds? Who's your parent? No, I don't suppose you don't know…"

He continues muttering to himself, as if I've suddenly vanished. "Hello? You can't just almost get killed and then start ignoring me! What is going on?"

My shouting has no effect, but finally he turns. "Well, I suppose I have no choice. I'll take you back with me."

Instinctively I jump back a couple of steps reaching into my bag for a weapon, anything. I come out with a nail file. Brilliant. A nail file against a sword. "Take me where?" I take another step away from him, sizing the boy up. He doesn't look big, or near muscular enough to take me down. Brief affairs with baseball, volleyball and cheerleading have given me an athletic frame. Rolling back on my heels I cup the file inside my palm, watching him warily.

He takes in my motions and laughs, sheathing his sword. "Relax newbie, I won't hurt ya."

"Newbie?" For the moment I forget about being offended, this guy is completely insane.

He smiles, it looks like he's trying to look welcoming but he just looks like he's got an ace up his sleeve. "Listen, have you ever heard about the Greek Gods?"

"Yeah, Poseidon and Zeus and stuff." I relax, a little bit. But not enough to put the nail file away, but at the moment he's got the bigger weapon.

"And stuff. Listen, do you have a house or something? I could go for some food."

Great idea, I'll take him home and Dad can call the cops. "Yeah, an apartment with my dad, just a block away."

"Fantastic. Lead the way."

I back up the street, careful not to turn my back to him, I study him looking for signs he might be crazy. Tall, thin with shaggy brown hair and sparkling blue eyes, moving with a quick bounce in his step. He seems normal, except for the sword at his hip. The walk seems longer than it usually does, mostly because the entire time I'm waiting for him to whip out his sword and run me through. Through the front doors of the building, up the stairs and one very awkward elevator ride later, I let myself into the apartment. "Hey Dad, I'm home! Can you, uh, come here for a second?"

"Sure." I can hear Dad setting down his book and coming towards us, backing away from the creepy guy, I back away, setting the nail file down in exchange for a candlestick off of the table in the entry hall.

Dad enters, and pauses when he catches a glimpse of my new friend. "Hello, who's this Mel?"

I immediately jump behind him, "Call the cops, this guy-"

He cuts me off by leaning forward and offering his hand out for Dad to shake. "Jason, son of Hermes."

Dad looks shocked. "Son of who? Come in, I'll make some coffee."

I glance at him with surprise. "Hermes? The guy with the winged sandals?" Why does Dad seem to trust this creep?

"Yeah, well, he prefers Converse these days."

"Winged Converse?" I try to picture the flying shoes in my head while I lead the way to the little table in the kitchen, "What is going on?" I direct my question at Jason and Dad, whoever will answer.

Dad sets a mug of coffee in front of each of us, Dad makes coffee all the time, usually decaf at night. Around our house, it's 'had a bad day at school? here's some coffee.' 'Got fired from work? Here's some coffee!' Jason thanks Dad and takes a swig of the murky brown drink.

Dad settles in, looking serious. I clutch my mug tighter, my palms uncomfortably warm from the mug, but I can't loosen my grip. Something serious is going on here. "Mel, you know the Greek gods-" Dad begins, but I cut him off.

"Yes, Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes. Jason and I have been over this, what about them?"

"They're real." He still looks serious, but I relax my grip on the mug, sit back, and laugh.

"Right. Some big guy wearing a dress is going to come electrocute us all." Both Jason and Dad tense at that comment, and thunder rumbles outside. Which is weird, because there weren't any clouds earlier.

"Yeah um, we typically try not to offend the big guy." Jason warns, taking another swig of coffee.

"We?" I glance between him and Dad, wondering when they'll give up the joke.

"We meaning Demigods." Jason explains.

"Demigods?" I search my memories of history this year, Demigods? What were Demigods? And then it starts to make sense. "Son of Hermes? You think you're a Demigod?" Now I'm sure, this guy needs to be locked up.

"I don't think I'm a demigod, I am a demigod. You are too." Jason glances over at my Dad for backup.

"Melanie, your mom was Eos. Goddess of the dawn." For a minute I'm a little disappointed, Eos? I was hoping it would be someone important and then I remind myself that none of this is real.

"Yeah. Right. The jig is up, Dad where'd you find the crazy guy?"

Dad looks surprised, but Jason just smiles and grabs a pair of shoes out of his bag and slaps them on the table. I lean in for a good luck, and laugh when I see there are two little white wings on each. I start to point out that this proves nothing, when the wings flap. They give another feeble flutter before rising off the table and zooming around the room, bouncing off of walls. I recoil back in my seat, taking a swallow. "F-ff-flying?" I stammer, unable to force anything intelligent out of my mouth.

Dad sits quietly while I watch the shoes, but Jason laughs and leans back on the rear two legs of his chair "Pretty sweet huh? Gift from my Dad."

Dad. He means Hermes. Both Dad and Jason sit quietly while I digest the information. The gods are real, my mom is Eos. I rack my memories for proof, evidence that this might all be true. The shoes, the horse, that water nymph in the river out in San Francisco, the Cyclops I saw on our school field trip to the beach, last summer when all of New York fell asleep for hours on end. I try not to think about that afternoon, I convinced myself it was all just a dream. "Last summer?" I ask, meeting Jason's gaze.

He looks surprised, "You were awake?"

"Well yeah, it scared the hell out of me; I thought it was a dream afterwards."

He smiles, "You believe us?"

I consider this for a moment, and then nod. It's a lot to swallow, but what other choice do I have? "There's more." Jason speaks up after a moment of silence, "There's this place called Camp Half Blood, people like us, demigods can get trained there. It's a place to meet with other demigods and be ourselves. It's totally protected from monsters. I can explain more when we get there."

I meet Dad's gaze over the table. "Will I go home?"

"Well yeah, only a few people are so powerful they have to stay year round, you don't even have to come, but most stay the summer to train and then spend the school year in the mortal world."

"What do you mean they're 'so powerful'?"

"Well, the more powerful your parent, the stronger your scent. The stronger your scent, the more monsters you attract. Some are so powerful they prefer to stay in Camp Half Blood year round, or they're on the outs with their mortal family. You're mom, Eos, if that's who she is, isn't one of the greater gods, so you should be fairly safe outside of camp, once you're trained of course."

I bristle at his comment that my mother isn't very powerful, all of the gods are powerful, "So, I'd spend the whole summer there?" I meet Dad's eyes again over the table. "When do we leave?"

"I was going to head back to camp as soon as possible." Jason says, jumping up to go catch his shoes, which are trying to escape out the window.

So soon? Dad nods in response to my silent question, "I'll be fine, it'll be fun, trust me." It does sound fun, I mean, the Greek Gods? How cool is that?

"Okay. Okay I'll go."

"Go get your stuff!" Jason shouts from the next room, "I'll just catch my shoes!" I hear a thump followed by the sound of shattering glass and decide not to investigate.

Standing, I sprint for my room and paw through my drawers, tossing as much stuff as I can into my backpack. Clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, make up, hair brush, purses, necklaces and belts. I follow that up with a little knife I keep hidden under my mattress because I'm scared of the dark, and the little plug in light shaped like the sun Dad bought me for my last birthday. After a moment's hesitation, I toss in my copy of The Complete Idiots Guide to Ancient Mythology. I've never been able to read it because of my dyslexia, but why not? Zipping up the pack, I exit, making my way back into the living room. Jason has captured his shoes and exchanged them for his old sneakers, looking proud of himself.

"Ready?" He asks, hovering an inch or so off the ground.

I glance at Dad, my breathe catching in my throat. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Be careful baby," Dad catches me in a hug, kissing the top of my head, I squeeze back for just a second, and then let go.

Jason unsheathes his sword and we make our way out into the night as he tells me more about the Greek Gods, talking a lot about Hermes before I begin to press him with questions about my mom.

"So, what's her claim to fame?"

"She's the goddess of dawn, like your dad said. You know how people are always referencing the 'Rosy fingered dawn?' Well, that's a quote from one of Homer's poems when he was writing about Eos. She wakes the sun, banishing the darkness of night before opening the gates of Olympus so that Apollo can ride his chariot across the sky." I think back, all my life I've been afraid of the dark, waking up just before Dawn to watch the sunrise even if it's a weekend or a holiday. That makes sense, so what if she's only a minor god? "She's also known to be quite the hussy," Jason continues.

"Hussy?" In interrupt him, offended.

"Sorry, sorry," He quickly backtracks, "Aphrodite, the goddess of love, caught her with Ares."

"Isn't Aphrodite married?"

"Yeah, but she's the goddess of love, so you can't expect her to be faithful. Anyways, she caught Eos with Ares, the god of war, and cursed Eos. So now your mom goes through male lovers by the hundreds, falling for men who can't return her affections, or falling for them, obtaining her goal and then losing interest." That sounds familiar, but I don't dwell on the thought. "So, flying or taxi?" Jason asks, digging a golden coin out of his pocket.

It takes me a moment to realize the coin isn't American money and swallow nervously. Flying or some mysterious Greek taxicab? Which sounds less life threatening? " Let's fly."

Jason steps forward and wraps his arms around my waist, I twist away, "What are you doing!?"

He shoots me an exasperated look, pointing to his feet, "I only have one pair of shoes, and it's this or dangle you by your ears."

I frown and step towards him again, he clasps me around the waist and kicks his shoes to life, pulling off the ground with a little strain on the shoes, I guess they're only made for one person.

"Next stop, Camp Half-Blood!" He shouts in my ear over the rush of air.


	2. Chapter 2: One Big Happy Family

**A/N: Another chapter! This one is a bit longer, and feature some of our favorites. I've always struggled with characterization but I think I did fairly well on this chapter, I hope you find them all in character, if not I'd LOVE some pointers. If you haven't read the changes I've made to the first chapter yet, please do! I'll try to have the third chapter up next weekend. **

**Chapter 2: One Big Happy Family**

I wake the next morning half expecting for it all to vanish with the light of dawn. Keeping my eyes shut, I roll over and feel the edge of the bunk I crawled into late last night. Opening my eyes, I'm greeted by the sight of the rising sun filtering in through the large glass window in the eastern wall of the Eos Cabin at Camp Half-Blood. Smiling, I roll out of bed and force my feet into a pair of sneakers, making my way over to the mirror. Glancing at my reflection, I make a half-hearted attempt to straighten my black curls, wiping away mascara smudged under my eyes.

Jason and I arrived late the previous night. I hadn't gotten a good look at the camp that night; he just led me straight up to a big house at the top of a hill. Chiron, the camps centaur training-master was awake and waiting for us, along with a red-headed girl called Rachel. I still can't wrap my brain around the idea that he's a centaur. Chiron said that Rachel had warned him we would be arriving, how she knew I'm still not sure, Jason showed me to the Eos cabin and then went off to find his own cabin, promising to show me around in the morning.

There are two other campers in my cabin, they were still asleep when I came in, but one stirs now. Turning around, I watch as a boy, looking to be about 16 or 17 wakes, stretching and blinks at me. He yells a warning to the younger girl, looking to be about 11, in the bunk above him and within seconds they're awake, knives drawn.

"Um, good morning." I greet them hesitantly, unsure of how to explain my situation to them.

"Who're you?" The boy asks, still wary.

"Melanie Graham, They brought me here last night. I'm a daughter of Eos." I explain, wishing I had something to defend myself with, just in case they don't believe me.

He sighs, "Of course, of course. A monster couldn't get past the wards." He smiles warmly, tossing his knife back onto the bed and coming forward to greet me, shaking my hand, "I'm Stefan, son of Eos, this is Elizabeth." He hooks his thumb over his shoulder to the girl, who glares at me before turning to crawl back up on top of her bunk. "Have you been claimed yet?" He asks, opening the door as he talks to let the light in before straightening his bunk and throwing my back pack from where I dropped it on the floor last night into a trunk at the foot of the bunk I slept in.

"Claimed? Um, no, I don't think so. I mean, my Dad just told Jason who my mom was. Does that count?" I ask, hesitant.

"Naw, not really. The gods are supposed to officially claim you after you arrive at camp, Mom's usually pretty quick about it, so it'll probably happen at Dinner tonight. Just to be official, ya know?" He explains, glancing under his bed and pulling out a pair of socks. "I could show you around if you wanted?" He offers, turning the covers up on his bed before turning to do the same to mine.

"No thanks, the guy that brought me here, Jason, said he would." I hurry forward to help him, tucking the sheets in beneath my pillow and opening a window.

"Allright then, be back here around eleven will ya? That's when we practice with swords today, and we should get you all set up." He instructs, pulling on a pair of sneakers.

"Swords?" I ask in a small voice.

Elizabeth sits up in her bunk, her straight black hair tangled around her face, "Who're we with today?"

"The Big Three." Stefan replies, and Elizabeth groans.

"The Big Three?" I ask, Jason mentioned them last night.

"Yeah, the kids of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. They're technically in three different cabins, but they practice together most of the time. They usually practice with Athena, so it must be our lucky day."

Elizabeth groans again, and Stefan smiles at her, "Liz is just mad because we're going to get our butts kicked, she's not a big fan of loosing."

I can sympathize with the kid, "How do you know you'll lose?"

Stefan shoots me a broad smile, "Oh, you'll see."

I frown at him, but our conversation is cut off by a rap at the door, I open it to reveal Jason. He bows and steps aside, waving me out, "Ready for your tour my lady? Your kingdom awaits."

I snort at his dramatic greeting, lace up my sneakers, and follow him outside. The camp looks much different in the light than it did late at night. There aren't many campers awake yet, the rising sun glinting off of the cabins. It all seems so peaceful, I'm awestruck as Jason leads me up the hill near the big house, turning, I realize we can see the whole of the camp layout from our vantage point.

"This is the big house behind us, Chiron, Mr.D and Rachel stay there." He jerks his thumb towards the house.

"Mr. D?" I ask, wondering who else works at the camp.

"Yeah, the god Dionysus, he's the camp director. God of wine and madness, he was cursed by Zeus to be camp director for going after an off-limits nymph."

"And what's Rachel's claim to fame?"

"She's the Oracle of Delphi. See's the future, makes prophecies for anyone wanting to go on a quest."

I nod, glad I paid attention when we did the mythology unit in history class, I recognize most of the names.

"Over that way is the stables and the combat practice arena, straight west is the ocean and if you walk to your left you'll find the woods. We'll play capture the flag there tonight, I'm sure your brother will get you armor and a sword before then?"

"For capture the flag? Why would I need armor?" I ask, thinking of the game we used to play in PE class.

"You haven't played it the way we play it, Rachel's picking teams tonight, so you never know what crazy combination she'll come up with. Last week it was the goddess cabins versus the god cabins, the last game of last summer the hunters were visiting, so she had Thalia and the hunters with Hades and half the cabins against Poseidon, Athena and the remaining cabins." He smiles at the memory.

I open my moth to respond, but nothing comes out, my stomach does a nervous flop and I decide not to dwell too much on the idea of capture-the-flag.

"This," Jason continues, gesturing to the half circle of cabins sprawled below us, "Is camp half-blood. The inner circle there are the big twelve, well, thirteen now that Hades has a cabin. Those were the original cabins for the original twelve Olympians. Last summer Percy requested that the children of the minor gods be recognized too, so the outer circle of cabins is for the minor gods, there's a lot of them, so many cabins are still under construction."

"What did he do to get that kind of wish?"

"Last summer we were attacked by the titan Kronos, there was a prophecy that one of the children of the big three would turn 16, and make some huge choice to save mount Olympus from destruction. Percy made the right choice and saved the world, so the gods gave him a wish. This is it."

His face is closed, serious, while he explains this, so I figure it's still a touchy subject and don't push further. "Where did the children of the minor gods go before?"

"Some didn't even come to camp half-blood, they never knew that they were demigods. Those that did wound up in the Hermes cabin. Dad's the god of travelers, so unclaimed demigods wind up there. There aren't many that go unclaimed these days though, so our numbers have decreased a bit."

He starts down the hill again, towards the inner ring of cabins. In the center is a large fire pit, we pass that to stand before four cabins standing at the far north, side by side. "This is the Poseidon cabin," Jason's voice is lower now, I can tell he doesn't want to wake sleeping campers in the cabins, "That's Zeus's cabin, next is Hera's cabin. She doesn't have any demigod children, being the goddess of marriage she wouldn't cheat on her husband, it's sort of an honorary thing. Next is Hades, that one's newer." The cabin he refers to is low and stout, like an army bunker, made of shining black stone. The symbol of a skull hangs over the door, and I notice that there aren't any windows. The whole thing looks really creepy.

Turning, he points to the other cabins, "That's Ares, Apollo, Hephaestus and Hermes, the major goddess cabin's are here on the other side, Demeter, Athena, Artemis and Aphrodite. And of course Dionysus on the end." I turn, surveying the thirteen main cabins, "Artemis took a vow to remain a virgin," He gestured to the gleaming silver cabin, "So no kids there. The Hunters stay there when Thalia brings them by, although that doesn't happen often. Last time she and Percy got in a fight, so she might not be around this summer."

"What happened?" I can't help but be curious, "And who are Percy and Thalia?"

"Thalia, daughter of Zeus who now serves as the lieutenant for the immortal hunters of Artemis. Percy is the son of Poseidon, he's saved the world once and the camp quite a few times. You'll meet him later. They argued, she electrocuted him, he doused her in water and Chiron decided they should give each other some breathing room."

"Does that happen often? The kids of the big three getting in fights I mean."

"Percy and Thalia don't fight often, but when they do watch out. Nico and Percy never fight, but Nico and Thalia are always arguing, over the littlest things. Amelia, that's Zeus's youngest daughter, doesn't fight with Percy or Nico, she follows them around like a shadow. And she avoids Thalia like the plague, so no arguments there. If you're looking for arguments it's the Ares cabin you have to watch out for. This way, I'll show you the cabins for the minor gods." He leads me to the second ring of cabins, gesturing as we walk along. "This is Aeolus, the god of the winds, Deimos, the god of terror, Hebe, goddess of youth, Hecate, goddess of magic, Hestia, goddess of hearth and home. She's an eternal virgin also, so no kids there, but Percy wanted her to have an honorary cabin and Annabeth, Olympus's architect and daughter of Athena, is always happy to design another cabin. That's the Iris cabin, Janus the god of doorways, Morpheus god of dreams, Melione the goddess of ghosts, Nemesis the goddess of balance and revenge and Phobos, the god of fear. And of course, the Eos cabin. Eos used to have a brother and a sister, Selene and Helius, the goddess of the moon and the god of the sun, but somehow they faded away and Apollo and Artemis got their jobs."

I gaze around at the cabins, all so diverse. From the Hecate cabin, shimmering and inscribed with symbols, to the Melione cabin, half a pale white and half a deep black. The Aeolus cabin, hung with wind chimes and Hestia's cabin, looking like a warm, cozy, family home.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes for just a moment, enjoying the sounds of the silent camp. When I open my eyes again, I half expect to be back in my room at home. Instead, it's just Jason and I, back in front of the door to the Eos cabin, he's staring at me like I've lost my marbles.

"That's everything, it's about breakfast time so you'd better check in with your cabin mates." He rocks back on his heels, glancing towards the Hermes cabin in time to witness and explosion, smoke billowing out the windows.

There's a scream of "JASON!" from within the cabin, and other campers begin to poke their heads out of their cabins. Jason bows in my direction and takes off at a run towards the smoking Hermes cabin. I smile at the sight, and head back inside the cabin. I could get used to this place.

Inside, Stefan is trying to convince Elizabeth to get out of bed. For a daughter of the goddess of dawn, she doesn't seem to get up very early.

"Ready for breakfast?" Stefan asks, dragging Elizabeth out of bed by her ankles. She groans, twisting over and standing up, shoving her feet in a pair of ballet flats.

"Yes." We answer at the same time, she glowers at me.

As we make our way up to the large open sided plaza where meals are served, Stefan leans over to whisper, "She'll be much more cheerful this afternoon." Somehow I doubt that.

Around us, campers are slowly trickling out of their cabins, Out of the minor gods cabin's in two's and three's but there seem to be a dozen campers in each of the major cabins. We pass the four head cabins and are joined by a tall, dark haired, green eyed boy from the Poseidon cabin, a redhead from Zeus's cabin looking to be about seven or eight, and a boy from Hades cabin wearing an Aviator's jacket a few sizes too big and a grumpy look on his face.

"Morning," The guy from Poseidon, who must be Percy, greets us. The little girl from Zeus's cabin grabs his hand and peers around him, eyeing me suspiciously. "I'm Percy, this is Amelia and Nico"

"Morning" My breath catches in my throat, after all Jason's told me, I'm a little star struck by the older guy. He looks too normal to have saved the world several times. I smooth my hair behind my ears, hoping no one notices. We make our way up to the dining hall, which is more like an open air pavilion. Everyone splits up into tables, most to the ten tables in the middle, Percy, Amelia and Nico go to their tables and the children of the minor gods scatter to their tables. I glance around, noting that while there are ten, sometimes eleven kids at the ten tables in the center, there's only two or three at each of the minor god's tables, sometimes none at all.

Stefan follows my glance. "Oh, the ten in the middle represent the cabins Jason showed ya this morning, they have more kids because the kids of the major gods are powerful and need to come to camp half blood. Some of the children of the minor gods might not even know who they are yet, so they can live safely in the mortal realm. And then of course there's the big three, they just dissolved their pact last summer, so they haven't exactly had time to have a bunch a kids. Well, except Zeus, who had Amelia and then hid her away from the war until it was safe to help her to camp half-blood."

I turn my gaze to the little girl, amazed that someone so small can be the offspring of a god so powerful. Her eyes are a stormy blue, her hair brilliant red, curling chaoticly around her head. She looks lonely at the big table, occasionally shooting a glance at either Percy or Nico.

Our plates fill with waffles and eggs, I move to dig in but Elizabeth narrows her eyes. "Oh, do we say grace or something?" I whisper to Stefan.

He just snorts and rises, leading the way to a fire in the center of the pavilion, tended by a little girl in a brown dress. The other campers scrape off the best bit of their meal into the flames, offering it to whichever god their parent is. I frown, it seems silly to me to burn the best bit of your meal, you'd think all burning food would smell the same, but I flick the crispiest waffle into the fire anyways. "For Eos." I mutter under my breath, following Stefan and Elizabeth back to my table.

That afternoon we had combat practice with Percy, Amelia and Nico. Stefan and Percy grab swords, Stefan from a sheath at his side, Percy clicks a pen and it elongates in his hand. Elizabeth scowls at Nico, who returns the favor and they head off to spar with their own swords, a little too enthusiastically. A part of my ADHD brain wonders what happened between them, but most of me is focusing on Amelia in front of me, turning a little bronze knife over in her hand, smiling at me.

"Have you ever fought with a weapon before?"

"Um…no?" I respond, a bit offended, should I have?

She bounces over to the wall behind me, grabbing a little knife off of the wall and handing it to me. "I'll show you how to use this, you should probably learn to fight with a sword, but I'm to little to use one of those."

I mentally resolve to go easy on the kid, but it's not necessary. She bests me twice, the third time letting me win out of pity. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Stefan get his sword thrown clear across the arena by Percy, who insists that Stefan really is very good with a sword, their hardly a fair match. Stefan still seems a bit put out, and goes to retrieve his blade. Elizabeth, on the other hand, seems to be well matched with Nico. They fight fiercely, neither gaining the upper hand.

The first day was fun, everything new and exciting, the first week was torture. Everywhere I turned was something I couldn't do, I stunk at fighting, arts and crafts, and struggled through learning Greek. The blond from Athena cabin, Annabeth, insisted I was doing well whenever I argued though.

Over time, however I fell into an easy rythym. It was only two weeks later when I realized that I wasn't a total oaf with a knife, that I hit most every time I shot in Archery, bested only by the kids from Apollo. Camp almost felt like home. I warmed at the thought, and fell asleep smiling.

That night was capture the flag, Poseidon, Zeus, Athena, Ares, Hermes, Aphrodite and half the minor god's cabins, including Eos and Hecate against Hades, Apollo, Hephaestus, Demeter, Dionysus and the other half of the minor god's cabins. Percy and his girlfriend, Annabeth, were captains of our team. Gathering us around, Annabeth laid out the plan. I was an archer, stationed up a tree as close to their camp as I could get.

"We're counting on you as an archer Melanie, you're the best one we've got and they've got the entire Apollo cabin." I feel a little burst of pride in my chest, and shoulder my bow. Another minute later, we disperse, Jason trailing after Percy as a part of the party armed with swords, Annabeth called them the frontal attack. She, armed with a knife, led the attack around the backside that would aim for the flag, a party that included Amelia, who hugged Percy and waved at me as if we'd been friends forever. I couldn't help but smile back; I could tell the rest of the camp liked her as well.

Followed by the rest of the archers, I slink along, trying to hide in the shadows and ignoring the fact that it's pitch dark, as close to their camp as I can get. Along the way, members of our group drop off to shimmy up tree's and take their positions. After a while, I travel alone, deeper into the woods until I can hear the shout of their side arguing, I poke my head around the tree to see them dispersing, their forces reading for whatever attack strategy they dreamed up. I duck behind a tree to avoid being seen and shimmy up its trunk, taking my position among the branches. My arrows, rather than actual tipped arrows, are blunt and colored with dye, so that whoever I hit will be marked as dead. I remember Annabeth's instructions not to begin shooting right away, or they'll bring me down from my post too quickly for me to do any real damage. I wait, impatient until the sound of Percy's group rings through the air. Annabeth was right, the majority of them move off to defend the camp, and I, along with the rest of the archers, pick off the stragglers.

I duck an arrow from one of the other teams archers, swearing, and press myself against the tree trunk, waiting for Annabeth's little group to arrive. Other than the archers in the tree's the red team is mostly gone from the base, the gaurds they left their sitting on the ground, marked as 'dead' by arrows and scowling unhappily. My legs cramp and I slowly readjust my position. The night gets darker until I can hardly see anything through the trees. Annabeth's group should have been here by now. Finally, Percy and his team fight their way through the group of red's to grab the flag. Percy glances around at the tree's and whistles, loudly to be heard over the cheering of the blue team. I reckognize the cue and shimmy down my tree, landing on the ground and dashing over to his side.

"Where are they?" He asks, and I can see concern in his green eyes.

I shake my head, "Never showed. Maybe this was her plan?"

He frowns, "She would have told me." He shoves the flag at the nearest blue team mate and beckons to Nico. Removing his red helmet, Nico's face changes from sulky to concern in an instant. "It's Annabeth, her group never showed." Percy informs Nico, clicking his sword-pen. They move off in the direction that Annabeth's group should have come from, Jason and I follow.

We move through the tree's silent as mice, trying to make out various shapes in the dark forest. Ahead, there are shouts, and Percy breaks into a sprint, the rest of us follow. The aftermath of a quick, silent, fierce battle lies scattered on the forest floor. Annabeth, her shoulder twisted at an unnatural angle, kneels over one of her fallen half siblings, another girl, built like a tank, the head of the Ares cabin, emerges from the trees.

"I can't find them." She informs Annabeth, and then meets Percy's gaze with an angry one of her own.

Annabeth stands, moving to Percy, her face pale with pain as she tries not to jostle her shoulder. "They took Amelia."


	3. Chapter 3: Things get Creepy

_**A/N March 16th: Hey, so my fourth chapter is a little late, mostly because I'm not quite done with it yet, also because I'm not entirely sure if anyone really reads this story. Please review to let me know what ya think! Constructive Criticism is good. Actually, it's the best. I need it to help me improve the story. So, the fourth chapter might not be out for a while, I've been neglecting my homework. Give me another week! In the meantime, REVIEW! I'm begging here.**_

**A/N: Here's another chapter, I hope ya like it! I stink at Prophecies, please forgive me. Let me know what you think and what I can improve for Chapter 4**! **Don't forget to review!**

**Chapter Three: Things Get Creepy**

I sit on the edge of my bed in the Eos Cabin, kicking my feet against the wall and trying not to throw up. I can feel Elizabeth's gaze on me, but I try not to meet her eyes. Only a few hours have passed since Capture the Flag ended, the camp is silent now. Chiron called the cabin heads up for a meeting in The Big House, Stefan's our head. I can't shake the image out of my head, of Amelia smiling and waving goodbye before trotting after Annabeth before Capture the Flag. I can't wrap my brain around the fact that she's gone, Camp Half-Blood seemed so safe. Minutes tick by like hours until there's a quiet knock on the door.

Elizabeth jumps, but doesn't move. I dash to open it, praying that it's Stefan with news on Amelia's disappearance but I open the door to reveal Jason. He jerks his head up towards the Big House. "Come on."

"Come where?" I hiss to him, grabbing his arm and jerking him inside the cabin.

"To the Big House. I can't stand just waiting while she's out there. I mean, who knows what…" His voice cuts off in a choking noise and I'm shocked to find him looking drawn, serious, almost angry.

"I'm sure the cabin heads will tell us when they get back."

He frowns, and I know that he hasn't been able to sit still either. "We were there in the woods; we should be at the meeting."

"Only because we followed Percy and Nico!"

"Still." He moves to the door and opens it, turning to look back, "Are you coming?"

I'm sure we're going to get in heap loads of trouble for this, but I pull on my shoes and trot after him anyways. "Stay here." I tell Elizabeth, to be rewarded with a few Greek curses from her as I close the door behind me.

"How do we get into the meeting?" I ask, jogging to catch up.

"Keep your voice down! And we don't get into the meeting…"

"We're going to eavesdrop?" I'll admit, I'm a little appalled.

"We're going to try." He informs me confidently, this sounds like a really bad idea, but I keep my mouth shut.

We position ourselves crouching in the shadows outside one of the windows to the meeting room. Jason slips into place quietly, subtly pressing the latch on the window to allow the sound of their voices to drift out to us. I try not to make too much noise, breathing softly through my nose as I watch him. He moves so expertly I'm sure he's done this before. As if he can hear my thoughts, he winks at me, settling in next to me to listen.

"We need a quest." That's Percy's voice.

"No," Chiron tells him, "We need to wait for Mr. D to return from Mount Olympus before we make a decision."

"We could just ask Rachel what's going to happen." Percy suggests.

"No. Zeus would be angered that we acted before he had a chance to respond to the news; the Gods might know things we don't. We wait." Chiron insists.

Percy starts to argue again but is cut off by a crack and a flash of light, which could only be Mr. D returning. Everyone gets silent as I hear him settle in at the table. "My father and his brothers are, most angry." Mr. D says "A threat has been made against the children of the big three. It's said that they are too powerful, and should not exist."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asks.

"A druid was paid to deliver the message; she couldn't identify who sent it though. Said it was just a voice that told her what to do. She informed us that the children of the Big Three have far to much power, that meeting Percy's demands to end the pact last year was a mistake and should be reversed. She said that the three brother's children will continue to disappear until the pact is reinstated."

"And did they reinstate the pact?" Percy asks, there's a tension in his voice that sounds almost like anger.

"No Pedro, of course they didn't! The Big Three aren't ones to give into black mail. No, they've banded together. Zeus has threatened to uproot Mount Olympus until he finds who is threatening his children, his brothers stand beside him. It's the first time they've worked together in a millennia." Mr. D snaps, sounding like his grumpy self again.

Beside me, Jason looks stunned. I bite my lip, straining to hear more of the conversation.

"Who do they suspect?" Nico asks.

"The Minor Gods. Who else would be jealous of the powerful demigods that will no doubt come from the broken pact?" Mr. D sighs, I can almost hear him scowling at Nico.

"That doesn't make sense." Annabeth says, "Why would the minor gods take Amelia or make this threat? They've been given power at camp half-blood!"

"But not on Olympus." I'm surprised to hear Stefan's voice.

"What are the standings?" The girl named Clarisse interrupts.

"All except Hermes and Athena back Zeus, Poseidon and Hades."

"Why don't those two?" Chiron asks, sounding puzzled.

"Hermes and Athena both say that the Minor Gods would never do something like this so soon after gaining power at Camp Half-Blood. It doesn't make sense." I can hear Mr. D slurp whatever he's drinking, probably Coke.

"Well then, we need a quest to bring her back." Percy says.

"Yes," Chiron agrees.

"Well then, Annabeth and I can get a prophecy from Rachel-"

"But not you. Or Nico either." Chiron says firmly, Percy and Nico start to protest, but Chiron continues, "If someone is after the children of the Big Three it's not safe for you to leave the camp."

"Sorry Percy. It's not you that ends up going, Annabeth either." That's Rachel's voice, I can hear her stand, her footsteps draw closer. My body tenses as I realize she's coming to the window. The window slides all the way open, and I glance up to see Rachel leaning out the window, smiling at Jason and I. "It's them."

There are choruses of shouts from inside, Rachel steps back from the window to allow Jason to spring lightly in, I move to go around to the front door, but Jason grabs my arm and drags me in after him. Rachel closes the window behind us with a click. Chiron looks grave, Mr. D as if he's not paying attention, Travis and Connor Stole, heads of the Hermes cabin, look impressed, everyone else just looks amused.

"Um, what do you mean we're going?" I begin to ask, butterflies churning in my gut, but Rachel grabs my hand so tightly I can feel the bones grinding together, her eyes flashing green.

" A Half-Blood child of a broken vow

Stolen to change the here and now

A rival of three brothers will temporarily mend

To see the jealousy of centuries put to an end

The daughter of the gods you must find

Or seal the fate for all your kind

To the depths of darkness you shall quest

To save Olympus from unrest."

She gasps in a strange tripled voice, as if three Rachel's are speaking. There's silence, even after her eyes have returned to normal.

"What did I say?" She asks, Percy repeats the prophecy for her.

"The depths of darkness sounds like the underworld." Nico pipes up, "So I have to go."

Chiron sighs, "Melanie, this is your quest, you can take two others to accompany you."

I swallow, my mouth going dry. A quest? To the underworld? I start to protest, but think better of it. This is my quest, to prove my mother and the other minor gods innocent. To save Amelia. I glance around the table, they all look hopeful, Nico appears smug. Jason grins at me, and I flash a smile back. "Well, I'll take Jason, and…" I glance around the table again, "Nico."

Chiron frowns, "Nico should not go, he'll be in danger."

"We'll all be in danger." Jason informs him.

"And if they're going to the underworld, then it would be best to bring a child of Hades." That's Annabeth, who's looking a bit wistful. I wonder if she's thinking of the quests she's been on with Percy.

Chiron thinks for a moment, then nods. "Very well, you'll leave at first light."

People slowly file out past us, Stefan clasping my shoulder as he goes, until only Jason, Nico, Percy and I remain. Percy catches my eyes and smiles encouragingly, "Good luck." He nods, and presses a sand dollar into my hand, "I wish I could go, but sense I can't, here's something to help you out. You can use it to bargain with any of the water spirits you might come across."

I smile, pushing the Sand Dollar into my pocket, "Thanks."

He nods then exits, jogging to catch up with Annabeth. I turn to meet Chiron's eyes, worried that he might be angry. "Get some sleep." He orders us, "You'll need it."

I wonder if I should bow or something, but Jason just grabs my shoulders and propels me to the door, "C'mon Rosy Fingers."

As we exit I twist around to raise an eyebrow at him, "Rosy fingers?"

"You know, after your mom, the Rosy Fingered Dawn."

"That's a terrible nickname."

"I'll keep trying." He promises.


End file.
